Neurological disorders

People who have suffered a stroke or head injury, or who have neurological degenerative diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson’s Disease can experience speech, voice, or language difficulty in addition to multiple other symptoms. Deficits may include:

A weak voice

Monotone voice

Reduced loudness level

Slurred speech

Abnormally slow or fast speech rate

Word errors or deletions

Grammar errors

Difficulty finding words or vocabulary

Difficulty putting words together to form sentences

Coughing when eating or drinking

With a perceptual-acoustic speech-voice-language evaluation, I can identify your speech, voice, and language limitations, and determine how they impact your speech intelligibility in order to help you rebuild skills for increased communicative success in your daily life. I am also a certified provider of the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT) program, designed to help people with Parkinson’s Disease.

Quick tips

Consider whether your problems are related to clear speech vs. thinking of what to say or both. Dysarthria is a speech disorder, which can involve deficits in vocal quality, breath control, loudness level, and/or articulation. Aphasia is a language disorder, which can involve difficulty finding words, putting words together, or understanding the words and sentences that other people say.

Speaking more slowly can help your oral muscles keep up with your thoughts and give you time to monitor yourself as you speak.